Marriott International Wins CHTA Innovation Award 2014 for Mobility Leadership

Marriott International is named by China Hospitality Technology Alliance (CHTA) as a winner of CHTA Innovation Award 2014 for its pioneering performance in applying mobility technologies in hospitality industry.

CHTA is a non-profit making organization formed by experienced hotel IT and managerial professionals that aims at promoting technological development of the hospitality industry in China. Its first ever CHTA Innovation Award 2014 is to recognize hotels or hotel groups that have superb performance in using advanced technologies to enhance guest experience, optimize hotel operations and increase revenue stream. The selection of winners of this Award are based on the results of a customer poll and the evaluation of a panel of professional judges.   

[Photo: ZHU Jing (left) presents the CHTA Innovation Award to Martin Bookallil (right).]

“We are pleased to name Marriott International as an Award winner because of its far-sightedness in adopting mobility technologies to innovate hotel operations. Mobility is the key to engage the next generation travelers, especially in China in view of the prevalence of mobile devices there,” said ZHU Jing, Chairperson and CEO of CHTA.     

“Marriott International has a comprehensive global mobile strategy in place that is instrumental to our present and future success. We strive to reach the next generation travelers by being the leader in Mobile-Digital Technology. Today’s customer wants to easily explore, book and share their travels on their mobile devices. Therefore we are launching a series of mobile initiatives to enhance their travel experience as well as intensify their loyalty to our brands. We are most pleased that our endeavors in mobility are being recognized by CHTA Innovation Award,” said Martin Bookallil, Vice President of Information Technology - Asia Pacific of Marriott International.

A major initiative of Marriott’s global mobile strategy is its mobile check-in and checkout service. Since its first launch in 2013, this significant service is now available at 1,200 properties worldwide, and will be live at mote that 4,000 hotels worldwide by year-end.

With the Marriott Mobile app, check-in and checkout is simpler. Marriott Rewards members receive a push notification on their Apple iPhones or Android devices after 4 pm on the day before their arrival alerting them they can check-in. Then they receive an automatic notification when their room is ready. Because payment information is stored within members profiles, guests simply walk up to the expedited mobile check-in desk where their pre-programmed key card will be waiting for them. At the end of their stays, guests receive a push notification alerting them that mobile checkout is available. Upon completion, guests will then be prompted to provide an email address where their bill should be sent, allowing them to confidently bypass the front desk.